Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl launched on the DS in 2007 in North America which was a year after Japan. They were the first main games in the series to hit the DS. Unsurprisingly, they were a mega-hit. Their influences can still be seen today which is seemingly why they were remade for the Switch.
A lot has remained unchanged with these remakes. The old hardcover strategy guides should still work for the most part. That’s some advice for veterans. However, this may be a gamer’s first time with these games, or Pokemon as a series overall. So, here are a few quick tips to get started.
6 The First Two Gyms And Your Starter Pokemon
The first elemental type players have to worry about is rock/ground-type Pokemon. Roark will be the first gym leader matchup. Water-type Pokemon are the way to go for this one but grass-types will also work. Because of this Piplup seems like the best choice as far as starter Pokemon go. Turtwig would be a close second.
The second gym leader is Gardenia and she is a grass-type user. This means that fire-type or flying-type Pokemon would work best. There are no fire-type Pokemon to catch before this gym which makes Chimchar also look good as a starter. There are water-type and grass-type Pokemon to catch before Roark makes Chimchar look even better. Whichever starter players choose will be useful early on.
5 Pokemon To Catch And Ignore
There are over a dozen Pokemon players that can catch in the first couple hours of the games. For would-be Pokemon Masters, they must all be caught. However, for those only worried about strategy, there are just three Pokemon to worry about. It all depends on the starter Pokemon chosen.
Starly is good Pokemon to pick up early to teach it Fly later on. Its flying-type moves will also be nice against Gardenia, if Chimchar isn’t chosen, along with the various fighting-type Pokemon players will encounter. Shinx is a good early electric-type Pokemon. Its Bite attack will also come in handy. Finally, Budew is a good early grass-type for players that don’t choose Turtwig as their starter. Also, don’t forget to snag Mew And Jirachi in Floaroma Town.
4 Don’t Buy Pokeballs And Other Buying Tips
Rowan’s assistant will give players 20 Pokeballs after they teach them how to catch Pokemon. Before this the market will open up, allowing players to purchase Pokeballs and other items at will. This is a warning to not waste any money on Pokeballs for the first few hours.
Potions and other healing items are also not that important. It’s a better idea to rely on the Pokemon Center instead. What players should buy are Escape Ropes and Repels. The random battles are very high in these games which can make getting around a hassle. Repels then are essential. Escape Ropes also helps with traversal.
3 Quick Menu Tips
Watching the Pokemon display their moves can be cool, but it can also get old quickly. That’s why it is recommended to turn off the move animations in the options menu. This should help alleviate the strain of battle fatigue because there will be a lot of it and there is no way to fast-forward through encounters.
On a related skill note, players may not know that their Pokemon’s abilities can be rearranged. If a certain ability is used more often than others, move that ability to the first slot. Another useful menu tip is to register key items such as the various rods for fishing. Players can hot-swap four key items at a time.
2 When To Grind
If players stick to using their starter Pokemon primarily and doing every Trainer battle, that should gather enough experience points for the first couple hours of the games. The best time to grind happens when players meet up with Cheryl in the forest outside of Floaroma Town. She will stick with players until the end of this area.
She will also heal players after every battle even if a Pokemon faints. This means players don’t have to worry about using items or making their way back to town to heal at the Pokemon Center. There is one downside to this partnership. Pokemon are harder to catch because Cheryl cannot be controlled. This means she may cause a Pokemon to faint rather than help players try to catch them.
1 The Grand Underground
One of the newest additions to both of these games can be found in Eterna City. Players can get an item called the Explorer’s Kit which allows them to access the Grand Underground at any point in the games. This is a randomized dungeon with a lot of rare Pokemon hiding beneath the surface. Talk to the NPC whose house is in the middle of town.
These Pokemon will be at higher levels, meaning that this area is great for grinding. The best part about all of this is that battles aren’t randomized. Pokemon can be seen in the dungeon. It would have been nice if the entirety of the games featured Pokemon roaming around like this but at least it’s something.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were released on November 19, 2021, and are available on Switch.